Even Solomon Would Be Scratching His Head

daily "News You Can Use" broadcast at noapologies.ca.  By Al Siebring on February 22, 2008 12:10 AM  

I was driving home from church last weekend, and passed a large group of people on the side of the road.  Many were carrying placards and signs, and there were other signs and posters nailed to trees and telephone poles along the side of the road.  I was passing by Perry Dunlop's house, near Duncan, BC.  Perry Dunlop is the former police officer from Cornwall, Ontario, who's in a Toronto jail today for contempt of court.

It's a long, twisted, and convoluted story, but the essence of it is this.  In the early '90's, Perry Dunlop uncovered evidence that children were being sexually abused in Cornwall.

In essence, the case spun up to the point where it was alleged that there was a ring of pedophiles reaching into the highest echelons of Cornwall society; a ring that included at least one Catholic Priest, a Bishop, several lawyers, including a Crown attorney, and others involved in the administration of justice, including probation officers and maybe even some senior police officers.  Apparently, the rumours went, the abuse was taking place in a little cabin just outside the city - that it involved mostly men and young boys, and that sometimes, the boys were also taken on trips to Florida.  There were rumours of "Klan-like" rituals with men in hooded white sheets abusing children. 

The explosive nature of the case led to two full investigations by Cornwall police back in 1993, and then a further probe by Ontario's Provincial police force the following year. "Project Truth" conducted more than 670 interviews.  In the end, the OPP became convinced there was never actually a "pedophile ring" in Cornwall, but they ended up laying 115 charges against 15 individuals. Only one person was ever convicted.  Another of the people who was charged ended up committing suicide.

And somewhere in this process, Perry Dunlop became convinced that this whole thing was going to be a gigantic cover-up.  He resigned from the police force, and moved to BC. But the case gets more complicated.  The OPP's finding that there was no pedophile ring just added fuel to the conspiracy fires.  And that prompted the Ontario government to call a full public inquiry into the case.    And Perry Dunlop is in jail because he's refusing to answer questions at that inquiry.

But there has been some other, very interesting testimony at that inquiry.  For example, the man whose original statement to police about a "pedophile ring" set off this entire firestorm basically recanted his story in testimony before the inquiry.

Ron Leroux testified that Officer Dunlop had been pressuring him for a story about an abuse ring, so he made one up.

In fact, he testified before the Commission that the statement he gave to police - the one that started this whole episode - wasn't actually "his" at all.  That it had been prepared for him by Perry Dunlop's lawyer.  "I never read anything they put down," Leroux told the inquiry. "I never took the time to read it. I was on a hell of a merry-go-round for a few years with them. Anything could have been written in there. I wouldn't even say anything about it."

Then again, Ron Leroux has also admitted that he was very upset with Perry Dunlop for leaving Cornwall; he felt Dunlop had deserted him after encouraging him to go public with his initial story, and Dunlop's supporters say this is why he has been less than enthusiastic in repeating his original allegations to the inquiry. 

Before he left Cornwall, Officer Dunlop was ordered to compile what's called a "will-state" and a summary of his evidence - all the stuff he'd collected on the case between 1993 and the time of his pending resignation.   It's a 110-page statement, with about 300 pages of supporting documents.  He turned the whole thing over to the Cornwall Police Service and the offices of the Attorney General and Solicitor General before he moved to BC.

And now, Dunlop wants to read that statement into the record at the inquiry.  But that's also the only thing he wants to do at the inquiry.  He says he's lost all faith in the process, and because this all happened so long ago, he doesn't trust his memory enough to be cross-examined or questioned on his evidence.

He did show up at the inquiry last year, but refused repeated invitations to take the stand and be questioned by various lawyers.   He kept insisting that the only thing he wanted to do was read his "will-state" and the supporting documents into the record.

Dunlop ended up being charged with contempt of court for his refusal to testify.  That's why he was arrested last weekend.  They flew him back to Toronto, where he had a court appearance on Wednesday.  He's now sitting in a cell until March 5th while they decide whether he's guilty merely of civil contempt, or whether this whole thing warrants a criminal contempt of court conviction.

This really is a sad and convoluted tale.  Perry Dunlop has insisted all along that his major concern has been for the welfare of children.  No one who has met the man can disbelieve that.   But some people say the safety of those children actually became an obsession with Dunlop.  That he continued the investigation "on his own time" after the Cornwall Police Service pulled him off the case; that in some sense, he became a borderline "rogue cop".  Part of me says that even if this is true - and I don't actually believe it - Dunlop's motivation of protecting children from sexual predators should be considered honourable enough to excuse his "fixation."

But somewhere in all of this, there must also be some recognition that everyone - including Perry Dunlop - is "equal before the law".  Fairness dictates that he shouldn't be allowed to dodge cross-examination by lawyers for people whose lives have been turned upside down by the allegations his initial investigation uncovered.    

 Let's just say I wouldn't want to be the magistrate sitting in judgment on Mr. Dunlop's fate.  Even Solomon would be scratching his head at this one. 

(For anyone who has the time or the inclination, Dunlop's supporters have a website that goes through all of the history and intricacies of his case.  You can find it here.) -30-Al Siebring is the host of the daily "News You Can Use" broadcast at noapologies.ca.  The father of three grown children, Al has spent more than 30 years as a radio journalist in Canada and the US, winning numerous awards for his work.  In addition, he is a proof-reader/editor for Freedom Press.  Al makes his home in the wilds of BC's Vancouver Island.http://www.noapologies.ca/2008/02/even-solomon-would-be-scratchi.html